Desperate times call for desperate measures. When you are sinking in the polls like a brick and the Atlantic Ocean, you have to do something. one of his top campaign advisors, Rick Davis, is under fire for his lobbying efforts for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. One of his chief political adviser is Carly Fiorina is under fire for her $42 million or $45 million "golden parachute." Using this financial crisis as a political opportunity, this is John McCain. This is John McCain at his best. He is pretending to be patriotic (John McCain is a patriot but this is different) and putting his country first when in fact he's being self-serving. He would like to postpone the debates and suspend his campaign. He has asked Barack Obama to do the same. If he is able to suspend his campaign then he is able to stop the hemorrhaging. He's able to freeze his numbers in the polls while he figures out what to do.

There is no doubt that this is a historic crisis but John McCain has not put together any proposals to fix this crisis. He has been incoherent. Therefore, his input on Capitol Hill would be helpful? How? Can't he still attend meetings on Capital Hill and prepare for a debate with suspending his campaign? This is another Hail Mary pass, like choosing Sarah Palin as a VP candidate, to save his sinking campaign.

From Harry Reid:

I understand that the candidates are putting together a joint statement at Senator Obama's suggestion. But it would not be helpful at this time to have them come back during these negotiations and risk injecting presidential politics into this process or distract important talks about the future of our nation's economy. If that changes, we will call upon them. We need leadership; not a campaign photo op.

From Barack Obama's campaign:

At 8:30 this morning, Senator Obama called Senator McCain to ask him if he would join in issuing a joint statement outlining their shared principles and conditions for the Treasury proposal and urging Congress and the White House to act in a bipartisan manner to pass such a proposal. At 2:30 this afternoon, Senator McCain returned Senator Obama's call and agreed to join him in issuing such a statement. The two campaigns are currently working together on the details.